Businesses, industry bodies and not-for-profits call for a clear focus on green skills at COP29 Climate Summit

A diverse coalition of over 30 organisations including Linkedin, SUEZ, Ovo Energy, Medtronic, the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts and British Chambers of Commerce has joined the growing call for a bigger focus on green education, skills and jobs at the UN COP29 Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

As part of the #GreenSkillsAtCOP campaign, IEMA has written to the COP29 President and UK Minister for Climate advocating for national workforce strategies to be integrated into revised plans for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that will be negotiated in Baku, before ratified at COP30 in Brazil next year.

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It comes as a new Global Green Skills Report by Linkedin shows that:

  • By 2030, nearly 1 in 5 jobs requiring green skills could lack green talent to fill them.
  • If we don’t take action to upskill the workforce now, this number could rise to 1 in 2 by 2050.
  • The hiring rate for job seekers with green skills is 54.6% higher than the hiring rate overall.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan begins just 10 days after the conclusion of negotiations at the COP16 Biodiversity Summit in Cali, Colombia.

Ahead of these back-to-back UN summits, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) which represents almost 22,000 environment and sustainability professionals in 125 countries, met with the UK’s Nature Minister Mary Creagh, to advocate for a bigger focus on green education, skills and jobs. 

IEMA chief executive Sarah Mukherjee MBE led IEMA’s delegation to the COP16 negotiations in Columbia to urge global leaders to support IEMA’s #GreenSkillsAtCOP agenda, while IEMA deputy CEO Martin Baxter will continue the advocacy at COP29.

Martin Baxter, deputy CEO of IEMA, said: “Currently there is the critical implementation gap in the global response to the climate and biodiversity breakdowns. We urgently need a clear focus on green education, skills and jobs to build capacity and capability to translate ambition into action.

“We have a growing and broad coalition of partners that are urging global leaders to focus on building capacity for green education, training, skills and jobs to ensure every country has a workforce that can deliver on their biodiversity and climate targets.”

Efrem Bycer, Sustainability and Workforce Policy Partnerships @ LinkedIn, said: "LinkedIn is proud to join IEMA in calling for green skills to be core to commitments at COP29. Our data shows that by 2050, half of all jobs could lack the green talent required to fill them.

“This talent shortage, driven by a lack of necessary skills, poses a significant threat to climate progress. Without the skilled workforce needed to build new infrastructure, develop innovative technologies, and rethink business models, we won’t meet our climate goals. Investment in green skills is essential to bridge this gap, drive economic growth, and ensure a sustainable future."

#GreenSkillsAtCOP

IEMA’s #GreenSkillsAtCOP campaign, supported by a broad coalition of over 30 businesses and environmental organisations, including: Linkedin, OVO Energy, British Chambers of Commerce, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Energy UK, The Wildlife Trusts,  Woodland Trust, SUEZ, Techbuyer, Medtronic, Make UK, Adecco, University of Leeds is urging negotiators and decision-makers at the COP16 summit, and the subsequent COP29 Climate Change summit, to prioritise the development of green education, skills, training and jobs without which the transition to net zero and a resilient planet will be unachievable.

COP29 IEMA Policy Briefing

Each year, IEMA publishes a briefing note on the Conference of the Parties – IEMA’s Senior Policy and Engagement Lead for Climate Change and Energy Chloë Fiddy looks at the key topics on the agenda at COP29 in Azerbaijan later this month.

The key outcomes that IEMA would like to see from COP 29 include:

  • Acknowledgment that green knowledge is a prerequisite for green growth;

  • Recognition that green skills are a basic necessity, at all levels of the education systems and across the whole economy;

  • Agreements reached that mandate countries to develop appropriate workforce strategies to ensure the successful delivery of their biodiversity and climate change plans;

  • International commitment to submit and deliver vastly more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions;

  • Transparent monitoring of carbon trading mechanisms to ensure their effectiveness; and

  • Globally equitable solutions on finance for mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage.

COP29 IEMA Policy Briefing: Introducing this year's International Climate Conference
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